The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus which transmits and receives data to and from other information processing apparatuses via a communication means, and particularly concerns, for example, an information processing apparatus which uses a common board such as an electric blackboard device so as to realize real-time information exchange with other information processing apparatuses.
In recent years, a teleconference which exchanges sound and image, etc. has prevailed by using a network system so that it has been possible to more precisely transmit information to the other on a real-time basis even if attendees stay physically far away from one another.
For a teleconference, an electronic blackboard, that is, a board which is commonly used by a plurality of users, has been introduced. Data are written, transmitted, and received by using the board so that each user using any terminal can confirm the same data on a real-time basis.
For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 6-284240/1994 (Tokukaihei 6-284240) discloses an electronic blackboard device for sending and receiving image data which are written by hand via a communication network. The above-mentioned patent application describes methods such as a method for displaying data inputted by the user in distinction from data being received, a method for displaying data which are being inputted and have not been transmitted in distinction from the data which have already been transmitted, and a method for allowing the received data to blink, etc. so as to call the attention of the user who has received the data.
With the above-mentioned conventional arrangement, in the case when not less than three terminals are connected with one another, the user can distinguish the data written by the user from the received data; however, it is not possible to recognize which terminal has sent the received data.
The objective of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus which allows the user to easily identify an apparatus which has transmitted data when the data are received via a communicating means.
To achieve the above-mentioned objective, the information processing apparatus of the present invention, which includes a board on which data can be written and sends and receives the data written on the board to and from other apparatuses via a communicating means, is characterized by:
a transmitting means for adding information inherent of the written data to the written data and for transmitting the data to other apparatuses;
a receiving means for receiving written data transmitted from other apparatuses together with added inherent information; and
a display means for displaying the received written data in accordance with the added inherent information.
With the above-mentioned arrangement, the written data, which are sent through the transmitting means, are added inherent information. When the receiving means receives the written data and the inherent information, the display means displays the received written data in accordance with the inherent information. For example, the inherent information includes information for identifying the apparatus and time information such as writing start time and writing completion time of the data.
Here, assuming that the inherent information is identification information of the apparatus, it is possible to identify each of written data(to identify the apparatus which has sent each of written data). With this arrangement, when the receiving means receives a plurality of written data, the display means can vary, for example, colors and kinds of lines for each of written data so that it becomes possible to vary the display for each of written data. Therefore, with the aforementioned arrangement, upon receipt of a plurality of written data, the user can easily identify the apparatus which has sent each of the received data.
For a fuller understanding of the nature and advantages of the invention, reference should be made to the ensuing detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.